Almost
by jayeyes
Summary: If she didn't know any better, Matsumoto would think that her taichou was in love.


**Author's Note: Hi guys! This is my very story! Hooray! I haven't watched Bleach in a long looong time (like years) so I'm sorry if there are some mistakes. Also, this is a take on the popular Matsumoto POV. I know, very cliché. And also** _ **also**_ **, I took some elements from HitsuKarin's lovely first episode together. And Ichigo is conveniently absent. Yeah, I'm not very good at this… I would really appreciate honest feedback 3 hope you enjoy!**

If she didn't know any better, Matsumoto would think that her taichou was in love. He had this look in his eyes, and if she hadn't been with him for Kami knows how many years already and if she hadn't become so good in reading the _tiniest, littlest_ clues that make Hitsugaya Toshirou tick, then she wouldn't have noticed it. But it was there, in his behavior, in his face. The way his lips these days always had just the most miniscule upward curl that could _almost_ be an almost-smile. The way she sometimes caught him staring at nothing, daydreaming himself out of his paperwork, which never happened before (and for which he always reprimanded her, by the way). The way he was always so out of it when interrupted from his reverie. All signs point to being in love. But where would he find the time to pursue a lady friend? Constant traveling to and from Karakura Town, a busy schedule as the captain of the Tenth Squad, and seemingly endless piles of paperwork made for a very busy little taichou, who barely even had time for himself.

Not even pretending to do her paperwork anymore, her thoughts shifted to her friends in Karakura Town. Recently, countless Hollows and several more dangerous Menos have been attracted to the town and flocked there in droves, making it immensely unsafe for the residents. In the past couple of days, more and more Menos have appeared and they have had to send captains and co-captains over to deal with them as well as to investigate. Toshirou and his squad were one of those tapped to keep a careful watch on Karakura. For such a young man he has so many things on his shoulders, so much responsibility. It made her kind of sad for her taichou. He was always so busy.

She was startled out of her musings when Toshirou suddenly sat bolt upright, his eyes wide.

"Taichou? Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

He didn't hear her, concentrating hard. "Something's wrong." He said softly, rising up and walking swiftly to the door. Just as he slid it open, a black Hell Butterfly fluttered in and in a booming voice announced, "Karakura. A portal has been opened. Go now."

Toshirou was gone so fast Matsumoto barely had time to absorb what the message said before rushing off to follow her captain. Upon reaching the portal, she found that the others have already gone ahead, including her taichou. With a little huff of indignation at being left behind, she went into the portal.

She was greeted with a huge wave of reiatsu upon stepping foot in Karakura. Following it led to a big field where the battle was happening in all its glory. The sky was dark with several huge Menos and fighting, but with the continuous arrival of more shinigami from Soul Society everything seemed under control. Matsumoto looked around to see who needed help.

A black and white ball bouncing in the distance to her right caught her eye and a dark-haired girl, scrambling after the ball, came into view. She didn't look like a shinigami, she wasn't supposed to be here. Matsumoto squinted against the clouds of dust and tried to make out who the girl was, finally recognizing her as Kurosaki Karin, Ichigo's little sister. But what was she doing here? This place was extremely dangerous for her! She started to go in her direction to take her to a safer place when a large Menos appeared before Karin. The girl glared at it defiantly and gave her ball a big powerful kick in its direction. It did nothing but bounce off the Menos harmlessly and only served to make it angrier. With a howl, the Menos raised its large hand and prepared to crush Karin, who was rooted to the spot. Matsumoto sucked in a breath and prepared to save her, but when she neared the girl, she saw that someone had already beaten her to it.

The Menos brought down its heavy hand to Hyourinmaru's blade. It howled in pain and recoiled in fury. Matsumoto watched in awe as Toshirou wielded Hyourinmaru with graceful ease. One moment he was down on the ground and the next he was high up in the air, slicing the skull of the Menos with a ferocious rage that Matsumoto had never seen in him before.

The Menos disintegrated as Toshirou landed neatly in front of Karin. Even before the girl could say a word, he angrily grabbed her wrist and scanned her all over, looking for injuries. He glared at a gash on her forehead, just above her right eye, that was just beginning to bleed.

"Toshirou!" Karin exclaimed, more surprised than anything.

"What in Kami's name do you think you're doing here?" Toshirou exploded, a lilt of desperation near the end of his sentence.

Karin, surprised and annoyed by his outburst, "What are y—"

"WHY. ARE. YOU. HERE?!" He was still shouting, barely-contained anger leaking through every word.

Karin was angry now, too. "Gee, nice to see you too. What did you want me to do, sit at home and do nothing?" She sounded incredulous.

"YES!" He exclaimed. "YES!" Again, louder. As if that was the most obvious thing in the world. There was anger in his voice, and desperation, and something else that Matsumoto can't quite place, but which she has never heard from him before.

"Well if you think for one second that I am the kind of person that would sit back and do nothing while these Hollows attack my town then you don't know me at all!" she fumed.

"These—" he gestured, "are not Hollows! These are Menos, Karin. Bigger and more dangerous! Why do you think I tell you countless times to be careful and to stay at home during these attacks? Because of these! Because they will not always be Hollows, Karin! Because you will not always be able to kill them with your soccer balls! Because it is extremely dangerous and you have nothing at all to defend yourself with! But you never listen! Why do you have to be so stubborn?" His words came in furious clips.

The fight seeped out of her and she looked a little morose. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they were any different."

But Toshirou wasn't done yet. "What if I didn't get here when I did? You would've been killed! And I don't know what I—" He stopped abruptly and brought his hand up to his forehead, massaging his temples. His eyed were clenched shut and that was when Matsumoto recognized what was in his voice. Fear. He was scared. He was scared that he had almost been too late. He was scared that he had almost lost her. These words were left hanging, unspoken between them and Matsumoto realized his hands were shaking—the left one on his forehead, and the right one holding Karin's wrist tightly, afraid of letting go.

"I'm sorry." Karin said softly, bringing his hand down gently so she can see his eyes. "I'm sorry." She said again, and they all knew that she really was.

Toshirou sighed heavily, looking at her with unabashed concern in his eyes. His voice was soft yet hoarse with shouting and emotion. "I'm sorry I yelled. Let me take you home, we've got it covered here." With his thumb, he touched her forehead near the gash and his eyes flickered when she winced in pain. "What am I going to do with you?" He said gently, more to himself than to her.

"I can walk properly, Toshirou."

"Karin, please, just—Let me take you home, okay?"

She looked like there was something more that she wanted to say, but she bit it back, knowing that this was for him just as much as it was for her. "Okay." she whispered.

She climbed onto his back like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like they had done this a million times before; all their muscles moving automatically to fit them exactly, _perfectly_ , together.

She leaned in and whispered something in his ear. It might have been a "Thank You" or another "I'm Sorry" or even an "I Love You", Matsumoto would never know. But it made her taichou pink in the ears. He looked back at her and said something in return. And he gave her a small smile. And it was the softest, most tender, most _beautiful_ smile Matsumoto has ever seen. It was much too personal, too intimate to be witnessed by someone else, and she looked away in embarrassment. When she looked up again, they were gone.

She felt her heart break for them: for her stoic little taichou, for the strong-willed human girl, and for their beautiful love, because she knew that it was a forbidden one. And Toshirou knew that, and probably Karin knew that, and Matsumoto wanted to cry.

But she was so incredibly happy for them too. Because knowing Toshirou, he would need someone who would be able to equal his incredibly strong and unique personality, and it seems like he found the perfect match. Honestly, she had to berate herself for not seeing it sooner, the signs were all laid out, waiting for her expert snooping abilities to discover them. All the times he traveled to Karakura even when there was no need, all the times he asked to stay after battles to make sure no stray Hollows emerged, all the times he disappeared while they were here and she just assumed he was doing his own investigations. Turns out he was building up something more important. She smiled softly to herself. They probably had their secret places, spaces in this world that only they knew about. Places only their eyes and their hearts could see.

She closed her eyes and tried to absorb everything she had seen in the last few minutes. He was so different when he was with her. Every part of him looked much more…alive. Karin managed to break down the walls Toshirou had so painstakingly put up and built around everyone he knew. She had managed to melt the impossibly unmeltable Hitsugaya Toshirou. And somehow, Matsumoto was sure that their love would survive, that their love would find a way.

After all the Menos were taken care of, the shinigamis gathered together to figure out this latest development and to assign groups that will stay for further clean up and investigations. "Where's Hitsugaya-taichou?" Someone asked her. Matsumoto had a pretty good idea who he was with, but no idea where he was. She smiled and shrugged.

If she didn't know any better, Matsumoto would think that her taichou was in love. But now she did know better. She was right all along!


End file.
